The present invention relates to a trailer with display screen storage and support. The present invention contemplates the ability to store a large display screen within its enclosure and quickly and efficiently erect the display screen to be used, for example, in concerts, conventions, and the like.
In the prior art, it is known to store a display screen on a trailer and to erect the display screen when it is desired to use it. However, prior art such devices have been extremely cumbersome concerning the manner of storage, the manner of erection, and the efficiency of erection, and disassembly. In this regard, BARCO sells a trailer under the name Featherlite. In the Featherlite trailer, the screen is horizontally separable into two halves, but the manner of storage is such that the two halves are stored on opposite sides of the mast. As such, a complicated operation must be undertaken to separate the halves and then store them in their desired locations. By contrast, in the present invention, a mechanism is included that permits the two screen halves to be stored side-by-side in an easy, efficient manner.
The following prior art is known to Applicants:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,741 to Loban et al. discloses a video billboard that is mounted on a ground surface on two posts and includes a plurality of screen sections that combine together to display an image. The present invention differs from the teachings of Loban et al. as contemplating a display screen made of multiple sections and which may be separated into halves and stored side-by-side.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,201 to Reed discloses a telescoping support for a display screen. The present invention differs from the teachings of Reed as contemplating a telescoping support that supports an upper half of a multi-section display screen from above and allows separation of the screen into halves for adjacent storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,078 to Clifton et al. discloses a multi-screen display system including disclosed means for interconnecting the separate screen sections together. The present invention differs from the teachings of Clifton et al. as contemplating a multi-section screen display system that is horizontally separable, supportable on a single telescoping column, and separable into halves for adjacent storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,408,596 to Kunz discloses an articulating mount for an in-vehicle display in which a display screen is pivotably movable with respect to its support. The present invention differs from the teachings of Kunz as contemplating a screen made up of a multiplicity of sections and in which the screen is separable into halves for easy adjacent storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,466,482 to Liao discloses a display unit consisting of a support for a multiplicity of display screens that are interconnected together within the support to provide a single large display. The present invention differs from the teachings of Liao as contemplating a screen display made up of a multiplicity of different screen sections that may be interconnected together to create a display of a single integrated image and may be separated into halves for easy adjacent storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,499,215 to Levy discloses a display screen made up of a multiplicity of sections releasably interconnectable together. The present invention differs from the teachings of Levy as contemplating a display screen made up of a multiplicity of sections connectable together and separable into halves for easy adjacent storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,852,622 to Ferren et al. discloses a deployable display apparatus for a vehicle consisting of a display screen made up of two adjacent sections that may be pivoted with respect to one another and with respect to a support arm. The present invention differs from the teachings of Ferren et al. for reasons including the fact that the halves of Applicants' display screen are separable along a horizontal line as opposed to the vertical line of Ferren et al., although one of Applicants' embodiments includes the provision of pivoting of screen sections about a vertical axis, that embodiment also includes separation of display sections about a horizontal plane.
U.S. Published Application No. US 2009/0310286 A1 to Miller discloses an integrated mounting system for communication and surveillance infrastructures. The Miller device includes a trailer on which are mounted a number of devices such as antennas, cameras, sensors, photovoltaic panels, and the like. Miller fails to teach or suggest mounting a multi-section display on a trailer and the ability to separate the display into multiple sections for easy adjacent storage.